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Digest

Mar 27, 2013 - The Associated Press

Man to serve life in prison for killing

CODY -- A judge in Cody has sentenced a man to life in prison, with the possibility of parole, for the ...

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Man to serve life in prison for killing
CODY -- A judge in Cody has sentenced a man to life in prison, with the possibility of parole, for the screwdriver stabbing death of his wife.
Under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Myron Friday, of Cody, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Tuesday in exchange for not facing the death penalty. Friday was scheduled to go to trial in May.
Friday gave a brief statement in which he apologized for the murder of his wife Julie Friday on Feb. 26, 2012.
Two of Julie Friday's children spoke at Tuesday's sentencing hearing, with one calling Myron Friday a "monster."
District Court Judge Robert Skar accepted the plea agreement, noting that Friday may be released if the state of Wyoming determines he has been rehabilitated.
The crowded courtroom devolved into an ugly scene after the hearing concluded and the judge left the room.
Myron Friday yelled something to his family in the audience, and one of Julie Friday's family members yelled an expletive at Friday. That prompted an expletive from one of Myron Friday's family members. Police kept the two sides separated.
Inmate faces gun charge
BILLINGS, Mont. -- A man being held in a Wyoming prison has pleaded not guilty to federal gun charges in Montana.
34-year-old Duaine Weston Bowden pleaded not guilty Monday to an indictment charging him with being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms. He also was charged with possession of stolen firearms.
The indictment alleges that in Montana's Musselshell County from about September 2010 to May 2011, Bowden possessed 17 rifles, pistols and shotguns that had been stolen. If convicted, Bowden could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The indictment didn't disclose details of the case that sent Bowden to prison in Wyoming.
Teton Park announces cutbacks
JACKSON -- Grand Teton National Park will reduce its seasonal workforce, including hiring fewer search and rescue team members, to help meet $700,000 in federal spending cuts, park officials said.
The park's plan also includes furloughs, closed visitor centers and campgrounds and no snowplowing on at least four park roads this spring, according to Grand Teton Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott.
"We're trying to minimize the impacts on visitor services these cuts will have," Gibson Scott said Monday. "However, there's no way to take this reduction without reducing the amount of services we provide."
Hiring fewer seasonal employees will save $372,000, Deputy Superintendent Kevin Schneider said. The park will hire 154 seasonal employees this year, down 26 from 2012. As recently as 2010, the park had hired 237 seasonal employees.
Gibson Scott said seasonal workers are typically assigned to visitor centers, road patrol, wildlife jam, search and rescue and custodial duties.
"We know that there will be delays in responding to search and rescue, as well as medical emergencies and (for) law enforcement," she said.